Opened in Fall 2018, the Center for the Art and Architectural History of Port Cities / Centro per la Storia
dell’Arte e dell’Architettura delle Città Portuali is a collaboration between the Museo e Real Bosco di
Capodimonte in Naples and the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History at the University of Texas at Dallas, with
the participation of the Université Paris-Sorbonne.
Housed within the Capodimonte’s bosco in a rustic eighteenth-century agricultural building called La Capraia (the
goat farm), the Center is a laboratory for new research in the cultural histories of port cities and the mobilities of
artworks, people, technologies, and ideas. Research and programs at La Capraia are dedicated to exploring global
histories of art, architecture, and cultural production, while grounded in direct study of artworks, sites, and
materials in Naples as well as southern Italy. Through Research Residencies and regular site-based Research
Workshops and Symposia, the Center at La Capraia supports scholarly access to Naples, fosters new research on
Naples and on other port cities, and creates a network of students and scholars working on related projects.
The Advisory Committee of the Center for the Art and Architectural History of Port Cities invites applications for
Research Residencies for PhD students in the earlier stages of their dissertations. Projects, which may be
interdisciplinary, may focus on art and architectural history, music history, archeology, or related fields, from
antiquity to the present. All projects must address the cultural histories of Naples as a center of exchange,
encounter, and transformation, while making meaningful use of research materials in Naples and southern Italy
including artworks, sites, archives, and libraries.
This year, Residencies will run for 9 months (2 September 2019 – 29 May 2020). Residents will be awarded free
lodging and work space at La Capraia and a modest award of 5,200 EUR, administered by the Amici di
Capodimonte, to help defray the cost of living during the nine-month period. Residents will be granted privileged
access to collections and research resources at the Capodimonte; access to other sites, collections, and research
materials will be arranged as needed. Residents will be responsible for obtaining appropriate visas (the Center will
provide official letters of support) and for providing proof of health insurance. During their time in Naples,
Residents are expected to share their research in a public lecture, gallery talk, or site visit, to participate fully
Center’s organized activities, and before the end of the residency period to submit a written report on their
progress.
We welcome applications from scholars of any nationality. Applicants are invited to submit a CV, a letter of
intent, and a proposal of 1,000-1,500 words that outlines the research project and the resources that will be used in
Naples. Materials should be sent in a single PDF file to the Center’s Research Coordinator, Dott.ssa Francesca
Santamaria (francesca.santamaria@utdallas.edu). In addition, applicants must invite three recommenders to send
letters of support directly to the same email address. All materials, including letters of recommendation, are
due by Friday, February 15, 2019.
Learn more about the Center at www.utdallas.edu/arthistory/port-cities